BFranklin

Minutes before seeing this post, I made the mistake of looking at comments on an NPR post about people in the Mississippi Delta fearing loss of access to benefits. The number of people who seem to think the Delta is a Trump voter stronghold because it's in Mississippi...

Very cool that the average American city requires 3.5 years of paperwork and bureaucratic hoops to tear down an abandoned convenience store to build housing because, see, the convenience store was "historic"--but the president can just decide to demolish the White House on a whim.

And from the collective perception of our media and their audiences (no matter their ideology), what the Jays have done to the Yanks to date is likely perceived as an assault on American exceptionalism.

As a U.S. Jays fan who now feels anxious about both sports *and* encroaching fascism, I can also add that too many of us belligerently insist on ignorance of anything "foreign" until it impinges on a cultural icon.

Even Seneca County was "only" 56-44 Trump, and Ontario was basically 50-50 (w/Canandaigua and Geneva being pretty substantially Harris). To extend Pitchbot's point, most of Western NY and Finger Lakes (even Southern Tier) is a lot less Trumpy than comparable areas in most of the U.S.

There were the leaks about even the Obama team mocking Biden as "safety school Joe" back when he was VP.

I'd argue was a different crowd in the media who hated him but not a bad point. Bill also greased palms and smooth talked them in a way Biden didn't.

Joe Biden: U of Delaware, Syracuse; Kamala Harris: Howard, UC school that isn't LA or Berkeley. I honestly think that's at least half of it.

Biden and Harris did not possess what they view as pedigree educational credentials. That's at least half of it.

Of course liberals/progressives aren't immune from racism. No argument. Plus, there are MAGA types everywhere. But I too often have to argue w people who insist my 73-26 Harris community near Pittsburgh is "MAGA country" bc it voted for Reagan in the 80s, so I'm a bit sensitive about timely data.

She had a 33% margin of victory, as per Monroe County's certification. I sympathize that having to quibble with someone whose hot takes are 20+ years out of date cuts into the joke a bit, but a roughly 2-1 margin absolutely counts as deep blue.

emotion wheel starting with "joy, fear, anger" in the center and then lapsing into gibberish

a friend of mine shared this ai-generated "emotion wheel" and unfortunately i have been laughing my ass off at it for like 15 minutes now. today i am feeling Fnliinneon

the first sentence of Elon's obituary should be that he was one of the greatest mass murderers in the history of humanity

this is his legacy

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

Photo of Senator Chris Van Hollen with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.

I'm thankful that my representative, Chris Deluzio @deluzio.house.gov, grasps the stakes of what's happening and understands the value of opposition leadership rather than acquiescence. Dems would do well to let this be an example.

Deluzio: 'Era of the spineless Democratic Party must end' to take on Trump, deliver for voters Deluzio is inviting other Democrats to join a movement he calls the “New Economic Patriots” within his party, a group defined by “a fighting spirit of economic populism.”

There's even a model for this! Chris Deluzio (my rep) is no progressive, but he's young and gives a shit about having a country in the future.

www.wesa.fm/politics-gov...

This is a fantastic initiative. I'd encourage you to also consider federal contractors, esp. those in social policy/service roles being hit by senseless cuts. Many of these folks, like myself, serve(d) similar roles and are also motivated by a sense of public service. @alleghenycounty.bsky.social

Much of what I know of him comes from Meet You In Hell, but I'll look up that essay. Probably also didn't hurt that he waited until his 50s to marry to avoid offending mommy, and then only had one kid!

One thing that shines through here is that Carnegie, in his considerable good *and* bad contributions to the world, cuts a much more complicated figure than most modern corporate titans (AHEM). As you observe, there's a reason we haven't seen generations of monstrously wealthy Carnegie failsons.

screenshot of my post about rural communities relying on usps using my parents as an example, and someone asking who did your mom and dad vote for? it has one repost and two likes

they voted for harris, because rural voters are not a bigoted monolith despite what you've been led to believe. but even if they didn't? they'd still deserve fucking mail service

Exactly. The logical extension to this attitude is that the marginalized people in states that voted for Trump also deserve to suffer because of where they live.

This is awful, but also hard to stomach the "progressives" in the replies who want to make Pitt as a leading research institution (and key driver of an economy that voted overwhelmingly against Trump) suffer because 50% of Pennsylvanians voted for Trump.

Yeah, fuck the 49% of Pennsylvanians (and 80% of us in the immediate Pittsburgh area, and over 90% of voters in the precincts around Pitt) who voted against this, right? Fuck the lifesaving interventions developed at academic institutions like Pitt. Good job being progressive!

@acesediting.bsky.social, challenge accepted: a haiku for National Grammar Day, dedicated to my favorite copy editing pet peeve.

"Use the comma splice
at your peril, however
periods are good."

#ACES #GrammarDay

BREAKING: NIH admits funding freeze is illegal, will resume issuing grants An internal memo issued February 12 was obtained by Popular Information.

BREAKING

On Monday, Popular Information broke the news that the NIH had frozen virtually all grant funding in violation of 2 federal court orders

On Wednesday, NIH leadership distributed a memo, acknowledging that its funding freeze was illegal and directing staff to resume issuing grants.

This is very disappointing for the neighborhood, but heads-up: your link is broken.

Helpful thread.

U.S. Steel sale block shows Pittsburgh’s complicated steel past The president's rejection of Nippon Steel's offer to buy U.S. Steel ignites another debate about the industry's role in Pittsburgh's self-image.

Analysis: The failure of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of its Pittsburgh-based competitor U.S. Steel reminds us that Pittsburgh’s steel communities still struggle with their past.

Yep, as far as I can tell, that Mississippi designation is mostly controlled by Twin Cities area metro parks districts. A "cooperative" park.